Growing Broad Beans, also Fava bean

Vicia faba : Fabaceae / the pea or legume family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
              P P      

(Best months for growing Broad Beans in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • P = Sow seed
  • Easy to grow. Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 43°F and 75°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 6 - 10 inches apart
  • Harvest in 12-22 weeks. Pick frequently to encourage more pods.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Dill, Potatoes

Your comments and tips

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06 Feb 14, primrose (South Africa - Dry summer sub-tropical climate)
Can I cuk broad beans with samp???
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26 Dec 13, Michael (Australia - temperate climate)
This year I've had a fairly good crop of broad beans (Fava beans) in my small back yard. I left them to grow wild with grass and weeds growing around because it is impossible to eradicate them, especially if the beans are often watered during dry spells, and weedicide is not an option. Each stem had at least from 6 to eight pods of about 6 inches long or smaller. Maybe it is a smaller type of broad beans but quite delicious. I have had no problems with pests, mainly the white butterflies who roster on the plants in the evenings, but I did notice extensive brown powdery colour on their leaves. Not intending to spray the plants, I hosed most of it off the leaves but the damage had already been done to the leaves, however, the plants seemed to cope will with what looks like brown fungal residue. I planted my broad beans early October and they have grown well. I planted another patch near if and now are 5 inches (15cm) high. Looks like I will get another crop on late February provided they get water and or rain. There has been no snail damage whatsoever, as I keep these pests in check with snail pellets around the perimeter of the crop. I have also noticed a number of Ladybugs on the broad beans leaves. I let them stay as these beautiful insects monitor the plants for suspected pest activities such as Aphids, etc.
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08 Nov 13, Bob smith (Australia - temperate climate)
My beans have stopped growing.... Why?
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02 Mar 14, Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Hi Bob, Your beans are probably given up due to the heat. Broad beans grow better in the cooler weather in subtropical areas.
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25 Oct 13, Carol (Australia - temperate climate)
I planted my broad beans around our fruit trees which are netted to keep the kangaroos and deer away from them and I have a great crop. Have now planted tomatoes in early October under the broad beans as I figured they would be protected from the elements and warm and they are doing well. Just read on this site not to dig the broadbeans out but cut them off and leave the roots there as they will be beneficial to the soil, I will use the rest of the plants in my compost. So thank you.
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11 Oct 13, Debbie (Australia - temperate climate)
We have had a fantastic crop of broad beans (our first year growing them) and wondered if anyone knows about drying them. You often see recipes for using dried fava beans but we are not sure how to go about this. We do have a food dehydrator but there is no mention of broad beans in the instructions.
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22 Oct 13, Andrew S (Australia - temperate climate)
G'day Debbie Best way we dried the beans was to either keep them in the pod on the plant and let them dry naturally as summer picked up , or place them on a drying rack in the shade on a hot day. Again we found the best ones were those that dried in pods. What you don't eat becomes next years crop. Going to try some in a plate drying this year.
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28 Sep 13, Craig (Australia - temperate climate)
My broad beans were planted from seed the end of march. I have used seasol + seasol vegetable concentrate once a week lightly watered in a watering can mix then a deep water. The flowers started in July and the plants are 200cm high. the beans started beginning September and are now in full bloom. be patient and topping the plants to avoid over-growth and limiting new bottom shoots will help stimulate the beans. water morning and evening for late bloomers. When the bees start to move on your in for a bumper crop.
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13 Sep 13, frank (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
My broad beans plants are being eaten from the upper stalk to middle of stalk including all flowers, leaves and baby pods. What is eating them???No parrots around yet !! or Possums ?? sending me crazy
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04 Sep 13, Larsy (Australia - temperate climate)
My broad beans appear to have rust spots appearing on the leaves. I want to save seed from these plants. Will the rust affect the next generation if the seed is saved?
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Showing 131 - 140 of 344 comments
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Update June 01, 2021 - I have lots and lots of fava beans - and am continuing to get more and more. It looks like it will take until the end of the month to bring them all in. So these beans will take about 320 days from planting to full harvest. The haul was great and I am pleased with the overwintering process - very pleased. The beans that I planted in spring are still a ways off from producing beans -- the plants are also much smaller, and I doubt they will put forth as many beans as the favas that were overwintered. The overwintered favas are a mess, with the tarp damage and some favas rocketing up to what looks to be 9 feet, reaching for the sun (they are in a shady location) - but I am pleased. If I had only grown the spring planted favas, I might have given up on favas all together...... but overwintering seems to be the key here in Victoria, British Columbia for a really good crop of beans...... and I would even grow these in the winter for the greens -- they take a bit of getting use to (as did spinach for me when I was a child) -- but once you get use to the greens they are great. The greens taste like fava beans, and not like any other green. I have a few corrections from my first few posts: 1. when I said I lost 1/3 of the plants that were not covered during the really cold week --- it should have said I lost a third of each plant that was not tarped: so if the plant was 9 feet, I had to cut it back to 6feet. The number of plants actually lost was zero. While I only lost a portion of SOME of the tarped plants and when there was a loss it was about 10% of the plant. Also the plants not covered where in a much windier location (think one step and your off a 12 foot drop and in the Pacific Ocean--so lots of wind) -- the plants that were covered where a couple of meters away from the drop off, and there is noticeably less wind there. So whether or not the tarp really makes a difference here is still debatable; the difference may have been wind chill. 2. when I said I used the fava bean leaves as a garnish in my soups over the winter; it was really more akin to a side salad on top of my soup -- big handful of leaves -- sometime harvested based on a branch breaking due to wind. Stems were ground into pesto. Again, I'm very pleased with overwintering my favas; and expect that in the future I will only overwinter rather than spring plant. Winters here are RAINY with lows at about -2 (and extreme lows as cold as -6 last winter), it is also overcast here during the winter with very few sun breaks.... luckily I get a lot of reflection off the water when the sun does peak through. I grew 4 varieties of fava; including the extra early violets; all performed well; the violets are the prettiest if you take them to the dried pod stage; they all taste about the same.

- FaithCeleste Archer

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